Clothing support for surgical patients



Oct. 10, 1967 H. A. DENNEY, JR 3,

CLOTHING SUPPORT FOR SURGICAL PATIENTS Filed Sept. 50. 1965 HARRY/1.DENNEX,.

BY I

ywm MZa 3,345,983 CLQTHING SUPPORT FOR SURGICAL PATIENTS Harry A.Denney, In, 5967 Crittenden Drive, Cincinnati, ()liio 45244. Filed Sept.30, 1965, Ser. No. 491,526 9 Claims. (Cl. 128-82) This invention relatesto a surgical collar for post operative wear and more particularly to aclothing support for surgical patients whereby the clothing, such as ablouse or the like, will be suspended away from the wearers body.

Surgical operations performed upon the chest area of the bodies of bothmen and Women are becoming rather frequent in nature, generally as theresult of malignant tumors, commonly known as carcinoma cancer. Eventhough both men and women are susceptible to chest cancer, women aremore prone to having chest operations because of the high incidence ofbreast cancer. For example, among Women cancer of the breast is thesecond most common type of cancer, and virtually thousands of womenundergo breast surgery every year.

As a result of any surgical operation, the chest skin tissue is, ofcourse, very tender and sore, and is extremely sensitive when touched.Such physical discomfort usually prevails for a period of some thirty tosixty days following the surgery. Additional physical discomfort resultsif follow-up X-ray or radium therapy is required.

Upon commencement of X-ray or radium treatment, the patient will notonly be affiicted with adversities which naturally follow from thesurgical operation, such as tender chest skin tissue,.etc., but willalso commonly suffer from such side effects of the X-ray or radiumtreatment as some degree of burn similar to sunburn.

Needless to say, during the above referred to period subsequent to thesurgical operation, or during the period of the follow-up X-ray orradium therapy treatment, it is extremely necessary that clothing andthe like be kept away from the afflicted body areas.

With the foregoing considerations in mind, it is a primary object of thepresent invention to provide a surgical collar which is effective toprevent the wearers usual clothing, except snug undergarments whichcannot be worn, from contacting the afilicted portions of the upperbody, generally the chest area, during the period of post operativeconvalescence.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a device whichpermits clothing to be worn in a normal manner, insofar as its size andfit are concerned, excepting in the critical area to be protectedagainst rubbing action.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide asurgical collar which is lightweight, flexible, extremely soft, andwhich settles to body form.

, Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide asurgical collar which will stay firmly in place, yet which is easilytaken on or off, and which requires no fastening to clothing or to anyparts of the body, and which works equally as well for light summerclothing as well as for heavier winter clothing.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a surgical collarwhich .will protect clothing from being stained by markings used infollow-up X-ray or radium therapy, if such post operative treatmentshould be prescribed by the attending physician.

Additionally, it is an object of the present invention to provide asurgical collar which will effectively eliminate the appearance of aphysical void where breast surgery has been performed, until, forexample, a breast form may be comfortably Worn.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide United StatesPatent f 3,345,983 Patented Oct. 10, 1967 a surgical collar which doesnot interfere with performance of post operation exercises prescribed bythe attending physician, or with any light housework which conceivablymight be performed by the patient during the convalescence period.

Finally, it is an. object of the present invention to provide a surgicalcollar which is inexpensive and economical to manufacture.

These and other objects of the invention, which will be described ingreater detail hereinafter or which will be apparent to one skilled inthe art upon reading these specifications, are accomplished by thatcertain construction and arrangement of parts of which the followingdescribes an exemplary embodiment.

Reference is made to the drawings forming a part hereof and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the surgical collar of this invention.

FIGURE 2. is a vertical elevation of the surgical collar of thisinvention.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the surgical collar of this inventionwrapped with cloth and containing padding within the cloth wrapping.

FIGURES 4 and 5 illustrate the typical mode of use of the surgicalcollar of this invention.

Briefly, the surgical collar of thi invention comprises a uniquepreferably one-piece frame which has a neck portion terminatingforwardly in a pair of garment supporting projections which in turncontinue as a back contacting support. The garment supportingprojections provide a support which is effective to prevent the wearersclothing from contacting the afflicted frontal portions of the upperbody, and the neck portion and shoulder members, which fit across thewearers shoulder and upper back, coacting to counterbalance the collarto maintain it in relatively snug and secure fitting position of usewithout the necessity of fastening the collar to the wearers clothing orbody. 7

Referring now in more detail to the drawings and particularly to FIGURES1 and 2, the device comprises a collar-like frame 10 adapted to closelyconform to the wearers neck and shoulders and having forwardlyprojecting relatively wide garment supports 11 and 12 which act tomaintain the entire front surface of a garment free from contact withthe wearers chest. Essentially, the device permits a blouse, forexample, to be worn in normal manner insofar as its size and fit areconcerned, excepting in the critical area to be protected againstrubbing action.

The collar-like frame 10 includes a curved neck member 13 adapted to fitbehind the wearers neck. At each of its extremities, the curved neckmember 13 terminates in forwardly projecting arm members 14 and 15 whichin turn continue into the garment projections 11 and 12, respectively.The neck portion 13 and the arm members 14 and 15 are preferablyco-planar, lying substantially within a plane which gradually slopesdownwardly in a forward direction until arm members 14 and 15 continueinto garment supports 11 and 12, respectively (see FIGURE 2).

Each of the garment supports 11 and 12 consists basically of threeco-planar members which lie in a plane which is inclined upwardly withrespect to the plane formed by the neck member 13 and the arm members 14and 15. Thus, garment support 11 consists of outwardly directed members16a and 16b connected at their ends by the member 17, defining what maybe chacterized as a bail. Garment support 12 is identical to garmentsupport 11 and consists of members 18a and 18b joined by member 19. Aswill be explained hereinafter, the fact that the neck member 13 and armmembers 14 and 15 do not lie Within the same plane as garment supports11 and 12,

is of importance to the successful performance of the surgical collar ofthis invention.

The garment support members 1612 and 18b continue into shoulder members2% and 21, respectively, having curved shoulder fitting portions 22 and23, respectively, at their opposite ends. The shoulder members arecontoured to hug the shoulders of the wearer, and as will be seen fromFIGURE 2, the shoulder members lie below the plane formed by neck member13 and arm members 14 and 15.

The ends of the curved shoulder portions 22 and 23 are inter-connectedby back contacting member 24 which preferably lies in substantially thesame plane as garment projectors 11 and 12 thereby balancing the framefront and rear. In effect, the neck member 13 acts as a fulcrum with thevarious frame members balanced forwardly and rearwardly with respectthereto.

It should be apparent that the construction of the surgical collar ofthe instant invention enables the wearer to place it quickly about herperson and to fit it snugly to the contours of her body. This assuresthat any clothing 25, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, which is worn innormal fashion over the collar, will appear in as natural a position aspossible, insofar as its size and fit are concerned, except in thecritical area to be protected against rubbing action where the forwardlyprojecting garment supports 11 and 12 cause the front of the garment tobe held outwardly away from the wearers body.

While the frame is effectively maintained in place by reason of itsbalanced construction, the wearers clothing also assists in assuringthat the collar fits snugly and securely to the body, thus eliminatingthe necessity of fastening the surgical collar 10 to the wears body orclothing 25. In particular, it will be noted from FIGURE that theclothing contacts the back member 24 and holds it in contact with thewears back so that the frame will not tip forwardly and downwardly to aposition in which the garment supports 11 and 12 will lose theireffectiveness. Even though some forward tipping of the frame shouldoccur, the garment supports 11 and 12 will maintain the Wears clothingaway from her body due to the fact that they are angularly related tothe plane of the arms. While the collar has been illustrated in useunder a blouse, it will be evident that it may be placed under eitherlight or heavy garments, including winter outer clothing, withoutdiminishing its effectiveness.

The surgical collar of the instant invention, which does not requirefastening to the wearers clothing or strapping to the wearers body, maybe left in place when prescribed exercises are performed, and completefreedom of body movement may still be attained. The fact that thesurgical collar may be left in place eliminates the necessity forremoval of upper body clothing in order to prevent rubbing during theexercises.

It is important that the surgical collar be lightweight and flexible. Tothis end, it has been found that a highly satisfactory material forconstruction of the frame is an aluminum alloy wire, such as, forexample, wire made from Aluminum Company of America alloys 5357, 5056and 5005, in declining order with regard to strength, finish and price.It is preferred that the frame be non-rigid so that it may be bent andcontoured by the user as may be required to obtain maximum conformationto the users body. Of course, any other essentially rigid yet deformablematerial may be employed.

Preferably the frame will be covered with a covering of soft cloth orgauze material 26 as shown in FIG- URE 3. It is also contemplated thatpadding 27 may be placed between the frame members before being wrappedwith the cloth wrapping. Such padding and the cloth wrapping permits theframe to additionally settle to body form while at the same timeproviding a cushioning medium. Alternatively, the various parts of theframe may be covered with rubber or other cushioning material.

It will be understood that modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit of the invention. For example, while the frame ispreferably formed from a single length of wire stock, it will be evidentthat it could be made in a plurality of parts suitably inter-connected,as by Welding, brazing or by inter-connecting joints. It is alsopossible to construct different parts of the frame from differentmaterials. Thus the garment supports 11 and 12 may be formed from nylonor other plastic material molded or otherwise contoured to the desiredshape, with the ends of the arm and shoulder members fitted into theplastic pieces. Therefore, no limitations other than those specificallyset forth in the claims are intended or should be implied.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined is follows:

1. A garment holding collar for post operative use comprising a framehaving a curved neck member, a pair of arm members projecting forwardlyand downwardly from said neck member, a pair of outwardly projectinggarment holding members at the ends of said arms, a pair of contouredshoulder engaging members projecting rearwardly from said garmentholding members, and a back member inter-connecting rearmost ends ofsaid shoulder engaging members.

2. The garment holding collar claimed in claim 1 wherein said frame iswrapped with cloth.

3. The garment holding collar claimed in claim 2 wherein padding isenclosed within said cloth wrapping.

4. The garment holding collar claimed in claim 1 wherein said frame isformed from a single length of wirelike material.

5. A one-piece garment holding collar for post operative use formed froman essentially rigid yet deformable wire-like material, said collarcomprising a frame having a curved neck member, a pair of arm membersprojecting forwardly and downwardly from opposite ends of said neckmember, a pair of outwardly projecting garment holding members at theends of said arms, said garment holding members being in the nature ofbails, a pair of shoulder engaging members projecting rearwardly fromsaid garment holding members, said shoulder engaging members being ofcurved configuration so as to overlie the wearers shoulders, and a backmember interconnecting the rearmost ends of said shoulder engagingmembers, said back member being curved to conform to the wearers back.

6. The garment holding collar claimed in claim 5 wherein said outwardlyprojecting garment holding members are inclined with respect to a planedefined by said arms and are essentially co-planar with respect to saidback member.

7. The garment holding collar claimed in claim 6 wherein said frame iscovered in part at least with a protective covering.

8. The garment holding collar claimed in claim 7 wherein said protectivecovering includes a webbing of cloth wrapped about said frame andextending between said neck portion and arms and said shoulder engagingmembers and said back member.

9. The garment holding collar claimed in claim 8 including padding linedwithin the confines of said cloth webbing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,931,990 10/1933 Massack 128 7s3,049,130 8/1962 Fuschetti 132 1 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner.

5. A ONE-PIECE GARMENT HOLDING COLLAR FOR POST OPERATIVE USE FORMED FROMAN ESSENTIALLY RIGID YET DEFORMABLE WIRE-LIKE MATERIAL, SAID COLLORCOMPRISING A FRAME HAVING A CURVED NECK MEMBER, A PAIR OF ARM MEMBERSPROJECTING FORWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY FROM OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID NECKMEMBER, A PAIR OF OUTWARDLY PROJECTING GARMENT HOLDING MEMBERS AT THEENDS OF SAID ARMS, SAID GARMENT HOLDING MEMBERS BEING IN THE NATURE OFBAILS, A PAIR OF SHOULDER ENGAGING MEMBERS PROJECTING REARWARDLY FROMSAID GARMENT HOLDING MEMBERS, SAID SHOULDER ENGAGING MEMBERS BEING OFCURVED CONFIGURATION SO AS TO OVERLIE THE WEARER''S SHOULDERS AND A BACKMEMBER INTER-